Form-fill-seal machines conventionally load snack food or another article that is to be packaged into a pouch while the pouch is being manufactured.
An example of a form-fill-seal machine for manufacturing pouches known as “pillow types” (hereinafter, a “pillow-type form-fill-seal machine”) is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-210297. Specifically, in a pillow-type form-fill-seal machine, a sheet-form film is generally fed from a film roll and conveyed in a prescribed direction of conveyance by a conveying mechanism composed of a pull-down belt or the like. The sheet-form film fed from the roll of film is then formed into a tubular shape by a former and a tube, and the vertically extending overlapping edges of the tubular film are then heat sealed (heat welded) by a vertical sealing mechanism. Packaged material is filled from the tube to the inside of the tubular film, which will ultimately be made into pouches. The portions that will become the upper end parts of a pouch and the portions that will become the lower end parts of the subsequent pouch are heat-sealed simultaneously by a horizontal sealing mechanism below the tube. The center of the heat-sealed portion (the horizontally sealed portion) is then cut by a cutter.
An example of a form-fill-seal machine for manufacturing pouches known as “hem-seal types” (hereinafter, a “hem-seal-type form-fill-seal machine”) is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-352306. Like the pillow-type form-fill-seal machine, the hem-seal-type form-fill-seal machine requires a former, a tube, a conveying mechanism, a vertical sealing mechanism, a horizontal sealing mechanism, and other components.